A look at what is happening at the Fringe Festival

Knots

Samuel Beckett Theatre

Knots was inspired by a traumatic end to a relationship, so creator Liam Steel might be forgiven for his jaundiced view of romantic entanglements. And if the best love stories are tragic, then all love stories must contain some pain. But maybe not this much pain. Jack and Jill are the generic couple brilliantly played by six performers who wear their hearts on their bodies. No twee metaphors here as they relentlessly portray emotional angst with physical angst, right up until a (literally) heart-wrenching moment. Teetering between loving and loathing, they constantly answer their own insecurities with twisted self-deceiving logic: "She won't respect you if you don't punish her for not respecting you." After the agonising, the final wedding - amid pools of beer and blood and described sarcastically as "the perfect contract" - carries the emotional wounds of the previous 100 minutes and seems destined for failure.

Until Sat

Michael Seaver

Oxymoron

The Ark

Tutus and jeans suggested the stage and street, but Oxymoron is more about b-boys and b-girls than ballet chicks. Part of the Young Fringe, the show, like hip-hop itself, relies on lively participation from onlookers, so all the more pity that The Ark was full of old fogies like me. The young - maybe all teenage - cast interacted with a video of duelling boys that became a dance-off between the live dancers and those on screen. Although democratically cast, the choreographic material is divided between genders, so boys do the macho moves while girls swish through softer sequences. The teen-angst and collective self-absorption only lifted during an undemanded but welcome encore sequence. Here the bodies didn't lie and, as choreography gave way to jamming, real people emerged from behind the moves.

Until Sun

Michael Seaver

Political Assassinator

Project Cube

Yoram Mosenzon is angry. So damn angry he bashes up fruit and takes his clothes off. The sentiments behind Political Assassinator are universal - peace - but the execution is highly personal. Based on his time in the Israeli army, the frustrations and dilemmas are spluttered illogically like a temper tantrum. Bashing tomatoes and snapping carrots, the over-riding sense of control and power is bred through notions of heroism and individualism found in the macho worlds of politics and business. "Look at me," he calls throughout the half-hour as he gradually transforms from sharp-dressed businessman to whimpering baby. But his intensely focused presence can only go so far, and there is too much rhetoric behind the delivery at the expense of subtlety and cuteness.

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Michael Seaver